Canterbury Rugby Club head coach Andy Pratt is wary of threat posed by National 2 South play-off rivals Taunton Titans

Canterbury Rugby Club head coach Andy Pratt is ready for another head-to-head with a National 2 South promotion play-off rival this weekend.

The city club tightened their grip on second place with a 24-17 win at Chinnor on Saturday and return home to face Taunton Titans at Merton Lane.

Titans are 11 points behind Canterbury but retain a game in hand and Pratt is wary of their threat.

He said: “Taunton are a dangerous team and they beat us down there – they’ll want to complete the double.

“They are another of the teams that are going to be there or thereabouts.”He added: “We took our foot off the pedal a bit in the second half last Saturday but we did just enough to win.

“When we have a team on the ropes we have got to try and press it home.“Ultimately, bonus points could be important. There are more than half a dozen teams who have all won 10 or 11 games and the only real thing separating them in the table is bonus points.”

Meanwhile, there has been some encouraging news about two of the city club’s long-term injured. Lock Tom Burns underwent knee reconstruction surgery after a cruciate ligament injury on his home debut in January 2013 but is hopeful of a return before this season ends in April.

Centre Charlie Harding was feared out for the season after a double leg fracture in early-November but Pratt said: “A second more recent scan shows that the leg has healed and there is a slight chance we might be able to see him back in March.”